NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Gustavus’ Evelyn Villalobos (Jr., Crystal) and Logan McCullough (Jr., Waverly, Iowa) led the way for the Gustavus cross country teams Saturday at the St. Olaf Invitational.
Villalobos kicked off the day with a ninth-place finish in the women’s race, while McCullough finished highest for the Gustie men in 62nd.
Fueled by Villalobos’ efforts, the Gustavus women placed seventh overall, while the Gustie men rode McCullough’s showing to a 10th-place finish.
“Overall, we knew we were coming in tired. We had a great week of training with some more difficult conditioning,” said Coach Brenden Huber. “We knew today was going to be filled with tough regional competition and we weren’t coming in at our fastest, but our athletes executed their race plan to their best ability.”
Villalobos toured the course in 23:17 to outdistance teammate Molly Liston (Fy., Richfield), who placed 11th in 23:20. Molly Weberg (Sr., Duluth) chipped in a 52nd-place time of 25:20, Kailyn Walukas (So., Eau Claire, Wis.) took 60th in 25:34, followed by Sydney Hagen (So., Starbuck) in 63rd at 25:38 and Claire Schoenfield (Jr., Mundelein, Ill.) crossed the line 66th with a time of 25:42.
“To see the top two women continue their strong season was fun. The pack learned a lot on a bigger race today, and we’re excited for our next test.”
Carleton took home the women’s team title with 45 points with Clara Mayfield capturing individual honors with a winning time of 21:11.
McCullough toured the men’s course in 27:29 en route to his finish. Tyler Smith (Fy., Norwood Young America) was the next Gustie across the finish line, stopping the clock in 27:35 to place 75th overall. Not far behind him was Jake Wielgos (Sr., Elburn, Ill.), who took 76th in 27:35. Tucker Wallin (Sr., Red Wing) took 91st in 27:44, and Marcus Hansen (Jr., St. Paul) closed out the Gustie top five in 28:05 at 110th place.
“Our guys had a tougher race today. It was a complete team effort, but we saw a lot of really good individual work from both Logan McCullough and Jake Wielgos.”
Host St. Olaf took home the men’s team title with 42 points, while Augsburg’s Mohammed Bati was the men’s individual winner, posting a top time of 25:18.
The Gusties are now off until Sept. 30, when they travel to Eau Claire, Wis. to take part in the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invite.